To the mom that coaches her -year-old daughter and got tossed
Please understand your daughter is not in the major leagues, she's not a college softball player, she's playing 10U rec league softball.
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She's playing for fun and to learn the fundamentals of the game and to become a better softball player. You embarrassed your kid today, yelling at a 23-year-old and an 18-year-old who were umpiring a game. This game is fast, there is so much going on in this game at one time, things will be missed, umpires will make mistakes, players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes, mistakes happen.
We are human but you going absolutely nuts because the umpire didn't see that the third-base coach on the other team touched the player as she rounded third-base and went home is absurd. It's outrageous to do that to a kid, to a 23-year-old who is simply umpiring because she a needs a job and because she loves this game more than anything in the entire world. Trust me when I say I understand how frustrating it can be as a coach and as someone who is there at the game I know you want your team to win and you want your child to succeed but this game is a game of failure.
You keep score and you keep stats. Your batting average is based on how many times out of 10 that you do not fail, how many times at bat do you manage to get a hit and out of those hits does someone else fail at their job and take away from you because you didn't completely do your job. There's no such thing as a perfect batting average. No one is perfect.
If you bat over .400,you're a Saint you're considered a tough out and that you are tough to beat. Anything above .600, .700, that's not a thing. Professional baseball players don't bat a thousand, it's impossible. There are so many factors going into this sport, you cannot expect one person to be perfect all the time, so when an umpire makes a mistake it is acceptable because no one is perfect.
Did you see your daughter crying on the field today because her mom just got tossed from a 10U rec softball game? You didn't do your job. You failed as a parent. Your job is to make that little girl smile and let her do what she loves to do which is to play softball. Your job is to make her a better person, to make her a better athlete, and to make her a better softball player.
Please understand that she will not play in the major leagues. Sure softball has pro fast pitch, but unless you go to a huge school and you do very very very well, you're not playing pro fast pitch. It's a dream to play college softball, and that umpire that you just called an idiot has played college softball for five years. She loves the sport more than anything and she's giving everything she's learned in the past 17 years of her life to those kids. She is umpiring your daughter, she's doing her job, she's trying keep the game safe, make it fun, have fun herself, but also teach the next generation a softball players. It's a hard sport, there's a lot that goes into it mentally, physically, emotionally, and all that umpire is trying to do is make your daughter a better softball player and you took that job away from her today.
To the man who was videotaping the 23-year-old umpire after the game:
it's time to grow up. That's a little creepy, the fact that you followed an umpire after the game, after three people from your team had been tossed, you followed her and recorded her on your phone. That's pathetic. It's a 10U softball game and the things those parents were saying should've gotten them tossed earlier. The fact that the umpire had to call the game because of things that adults were saying to her is absurd. And the fact that her dad had to threaten you as you recorded his daughter after the game when she said nothing bad about any player or any person? All she was saying was a recollection of the events that happened and what was said and she was just telling her parents. She's still a kid, sure, she's over 18 but she's still a kid.
To the mom who said screw you and the adults I called her an idiot and were cussing at her:
look at you look at yourself. what did you just do in front of your 10-year-old daughter. why would you embarrass your child like that? you are her example and I hope for your daughter's sake that you know that it was wrong to do those things at a 10-year-old softball game, at any game. I hope that you're teaching your daughter to be a classy player, to be a class act all the time, and to be sportsmanlike, and when something goes wrong instead of yelling and blaming someone else look inside and see what could I have done better to change the outcome of this game. what did I fail on that made us lose, that allowed us to lose? If I were you, I would look at your daughter and say I'm sorry for not setting the best example I could, for showing you that it's okay to be a sore loser, and that it's okay to harass someone who does nothing but love the sport and try extremely hard for each of its players. Grow up. Grow up and go apologize to your daughter for taking what should be a memorable and enjoyable occasion and turning into something nasty and hostile. Say I'm sorry for creating that environment for you, and showing you that it's okay to say this things to someone, and it's okay to embarrass your child like that, and that you don't need to be an adult, you can act like a little kid and get away with it. Tell your child I am sorry.
To the little girl playing shortstop who ran off crying because your mom got tossed:
I am sorry. as an older girl who was sitting there watching this happen, thinking that I would kill to be back in 10U and be able to restart my entire softball career. I am sorry that your mom tainted this memory for you. I need you to know that you did nothing wrong, all you did was play the game that you love more than anything, and your team played well. You played a great game and I can honestly say that you guys are some the best 10U players I've ever seen. I am so proud to sit here and say I watched you play, even if your mom embarrassed you and said some things that you should never say to a kid. Just know that the girl standing on the field with you in a blue umpires jersey respects you and this game more than anything and all she wants to do is see you succeed. you're going to go far, it's a given, just keep up the hard work, keep the passion keep fighting, and play every game like it's your last. Play every game with class and respect for the umpires for the coaches, for anyone who is trying to offer you any help. Be able to look at them and say thank you at the end of the day for all the work they've done to get you where you are. Be able to play for them and play for you. Don't ever let something your parent did or said during a game take away from all you've done. This is your time, your sport, your love and your parents cannot take away from that. Keep your chin up pretty girl and keep kicking ass
Sincerely,
The completely objective girl in the stands
